Spiritual insight for the “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)

Let it be your care to get the approval of God, as a workman who has no cause for shame, giving the true word in the right way. 2 Timothy 2:15 (BBE)

American Idol may be the biggest success of our time. Now in its 7th season, not many have not heard of, nor seen the national talent program. From the looks of the crowds lining up to try out each season and the success of former Idol’s record sales, one would have to sit up and take notice. Truly this is an American success story.

There are many who try out for Idol that have no business stepping foot in the tryout room. Many come with supporters who encouraged them to try out, and I have to wonder what they were thinking. Simon gets a bad rap sometimes but for the most part he is pretty straight forward with his assessment of these ‘wannabe’ Idols. There have been some awful attempts at music making.

My heart went out to one young lady who did her best and really believed that she had what it took to be on American Idol. She seemed clueless as to her true worth and abilities. I had to stop and wonder where her parents and friends were who cared enough to tell her that singing was not her strongest card to play. She was beautiful, meek, a gentle soul who just seemed way out of place on the national stage. I had to applaud her guts to be willing to put herself through the process. For that I give her kudos, but my heart wept as I watched her attempt to sing and fail miserably.

The judges were very gentle with her for I believe they, like I, felt her desperate need for direction. It seemed to me she really did not have any idea what she wanted to do with her life. That is why I wept.

We can expect week after week to see crazies and glory hounds appear on Idol tryouts. Those who are just seeking an audience with a celebrity for some narcissistic reason. I believe some of these characters may even be paid to appear on the show for entertainment value. Whatever the reason, in a crowd full of Idol wannabes someone is bound to stand out as totally unworthy.

And then there was the young lady who was very vocal about her ‘gift of God’, the voice God gave her to sing. I felt elated to see a child of God utilizing her talent. I would question her desire to be on American Idol but that is for her to work out with God. I expected great things from this talented singer with a ‘gift from God’.

I was quickly disheartened when this young lady began to sing. Simon, being who he is, was critical from the get go as to anyone who came into the audition room professing a ‘talent on loan from God’. Simon said something very profound in his British brashness that resounded across the nation. He said can you get a refund? He said that if a gift was defective could you get a refund. This brought ridicule to the whole of Christendom if you ask me.

Tags: music, american, idol, witness, singing, idol, television, christian

The other side of this same coin was her testimony, that her church was supportive of her music ministry. Somewhere someone has got to tell these folks that perhaps they should consider returning this ‘gift of God’ because it truly does not uplift, edify, or in anyway bring Glory to the giver- God. If I had to sit through a whole worship service and listen to this young lady wail off pitch for 10 minutes I would have to ask for forgiveness because there would be no way that I would be able to worship the Lord with that noise going on. It would be a major distraction.

I have heard and seen many ‘gift of God’ singers that have caused me to squirm What, in essence they are saying is, well, God gave this gift to me so if you do not like it there is something wrong with you. When in reality, I believe, someone misled them to believe they were gifted in this area when they were not. Worse yet they deluded themselves by thinking more highly of themselves then they ought to have.

As a note, I do wish to say that I know a lovely elderly lady who does not sing well but I will tell you every time she gets up to sing I am moved to my core because she is definitely singing from her heart to her God. This to me makes all the difference in the world. She does not get up to sing to be seen by men. She does not profess to be a singer with a ‘gift from God’ she just loves the Lord and it shows in her very being. Everything she does blesses those who are touched by her. Therefore I am not throwing the baby out with the bathwater but wanted to give a real world example of what a poor witness it is to say God gave you a talent and then perform so badly.

As ministers of God first, we are to present ourselves before God as workmen approved and not ashamed of the work we produce. Does this mean perfection every time? I wish I could be perfect every time, but reality is I do make mistakes, but the mistakes are not because I have not prepared– they are just a matter of course. I suffer when I am unable to practice as much as I should but I do not want to be that stumbling block that causes people in the congregation to be looking at me or to be distracted by me. I want my work to enhance the over all worship experience and not distract from it. The best offering would be one in which no one really took too much notice but went away edified none the less.

And then there are those who are not of the body of Christ who witness these events and are given an opportunity to smirk and ridicule and slander the wonderful name of Christ because these ‘ministers of God’ present such poor examples of the magnificence of God’s glory. Just because we say we love God does not give us an excuse to give anything but the best to the Lord. We should not want to give the Simon’s of the world a chance to ridicule and scorn the ‘gift of God’. Had this young lady actually sung well then I believe even Simon would have had to say Wow!

Okay church, what is going on? Who in that young lady’s congregation encouraged her to step onto the national stage and attempt something she truly was not prepared nor gifted for? Someone needed to sit that young lady down and tell her to try something else to do to make a living, because singing was not going to do it for her. So here she comes on national TV and it took someone like Simon, Paula, and Randy to give this young lady a reality check.

Maybe the church needs to be more Simonized because it appears to be too homogenized.

I have been blessed with a gift from the Lord and I have to admit that apart from His Spirit, this gift would just be another ‘Idol’ reject on the stage of life.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)